


the idiot with the painted face

by neenswrites



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Mess, M/M, Pining, and very obvious, they're all idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:42:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23419948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neenswrites/pseuds/neenswrites
Summary: “What are you—get that phone out of my face!”“But it’s for this app! It says it can tell what mood you’re in with just a single picture.”-Or, Kuroo is so in love that even a stupid app can tell.
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 47
Kudos: 955
Collections: My favorite haikyuu fics, One shots, Recommended KuroKen Fics





	the idiot with the painted face

**Author's Note:**

> i got this idea at 2 am, wrote an outline, went back to sleep, and then wrote this the moment i woke up. everything feels like a fever dream
> 
> the title is from [me and my husband](https://tumblr.com/%5Bbeta's_tumblr_name%5D) by mitski, please check it out bc it helped me come up with this fic!

There was some comfort, Yaku supposed, to Lev finally showing up to practice early. It meant that Lev was beginning to take his place on the team more seriously, that he was able to help set up the gym for practice, and that he was no longer walking in late like he owned the place.

The downside was that it meant more time spent with Lev overall.

Yaku wasn’t sure if the pros truly outweighed the cons.

“How many times do I have to tell you to go set up the net!”

“But Yaku-san, I have to keep watch of the door!”

Yaku pressed his fingers into his temples. This was the third time Lev has said as much – without any explanation about  _ why _ he had to do this – and the big oaf wasn’t even watching the door. He was just sitting there, messing with his phone with a too intense expression. An expression that became more worrying as Lev turned to tilt his head at Yaku. 

“What are you—get that phone out of my face!”

Yaku jumped back with a glare at Lev’s phone, which had been pushed way too close to him for comfort.

“But it’s for this app! It says it can tell what mood you’re in with just a single picture.”

“Oho, what are you working on over here?” Kuroo asked as he walked over. Yaku looked at the still unassembled net and hoped that Kuroo intended to get Lev to do  _ something _ .

“Look Kuroo-san, it’s this new app I found!” Lev said, turning his phone to display the screen. Yaku couldn’t be bothered to give it a second glance, but apparently the rest of the team did not agree. Even Kai was coming over, though he at least had the courtesy to send Yaku an apologetic look. “I want to use it on Kenma-san to try and figure out what he’s really feeling.”

“I don’t think Kenma has ever held back on how he feels about you,” Yamamoto said with a snort, and Yaku bit back a smile himself. Just the thought of Kenma’s expression when dealing with Lev was enough to lighten his mood a bit.

“Kenma really isn’t that hard to read in general,” Kuroo added, and Yaku repressed the urge to roll his eyes. Of course, the lovesick idiot would say that. This time, most of the team seemed to share his thoughts and all looked at Kuroo with varying expressions of disbelief.

Kuroo immediately bristled.

“What, it’s true!” he said as he defensively crossed his arms. “Yeah, he’s not the most expressive person, but that just means that when he does feel something strongly, it’s pretty easy to pick up on.”

And Yaku supposed that made sense in general, but Kenma’s tells were so subtle that he was sure it would take some sort of facial expression expert to pick up on them.

Or Kenma expert, he thought with a sly look at Kuroo.

“Are you even sure it works though?” Fukunaga asked as he poked at the screen. Lev pulled his phone back with a pout and started tapping on it.

“Yeah, I already tried it on myself this morning,” he said, and Yaku couldn’t help but join the team as they leaned in when he showed them the results.

In his camera roll, there were what seemed like an endless number of Lev’s selfies. Over his forehead in every single one of them were the words ‘Over-Confident’ in big bold letters.

“Incredible,” Yaku whispered in awe.

“Aren’t I!” Lev said proudly with his thumb to his chest. “And it has to be accurate because I  _ am _ overflowing with confidence all the time.”

Yaku had never wanted to kick him so badly in his life.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re sitting by the door,” Kai said, and Yaku hoped that meant they were finally going to move on to beginning practice.

“Well I know that Kenma-san doesn’t like pictures being taken of him, so I’m planning on trying as soon as he walks in through the door,” Lev replied.

Yaku frowned and opened his mouth to lecture Lev about the importance of respecting boundaries. Unfortunately, Kuroo beat him to the punch.

“Kenma’s working on a new game, and probably won’t come in until practice is just about to start,” Kuroo said as he looked at the clock. A truly evil grin then spread across his face, and Yaku’s eyes widened at the thought of whatever idea was going through the asshole’s mind. “Why don’t you try on Yaku instead? He hates having his picture taken too, and it’ll be good practice for when Kenma comes in.”

Yaku barely had time to take in the way Lev’s eyes lit up before he was dashing across the gym with Lev right on his tail.

“Kuroo, you piece of shit!” he called out as he ducked under where Kai was dutifully putting up the volleyball net. He was going to kill Lev for making a third year do it.

He heard Kuroo’s ridiculous cackling laughter and swerved towards the sound. If he was going down, he was going to take Kuroo with him.

Unfortunately, Lev was just a couple steps to quick.

“Gotcha, Yaku-san,” was the only warning Yaku got before Lev appeared directly in front of him. Yaku tried stopping immediately and nearly stumbled to avoid colliding with Lev. He looked up to scold him for being so reckless but was cut off by the sound of a single  _ click _ .

“Look, look, it says that Yaku-san’s mood is murderous. I didn’t know that was a mood?”

Yaku heard Kuroo’s laugh get even louder, and he snatched Lev’s phone away from him. After deleting the picture - where he did admittedly look murderous - Yaku pointed the camera at Kuroo.

Let's see how much he liked having his picture taken while laughing like a goddamn hyena.

Just a second before Yaku clicked the camera, the doors to the gym opened and revealed a disgruntled looking Kenma. Kuroo’s face shifted as he turned to look at his best friend, and Yaku let his thumb pressed down.

_ Click. _

“Yaku-san…”

Yake could hear the disbelief in Lev’s tone, but he was too giddy to care that he’d seen it too. Because there, across Kuroo’s forehead and truly awful bedhead, were the words ‘In Love.’

Oh, this was too good to be true.

“We have to show Kuroo!” Lev exclaimed, but Yaku dodged his attempt at grabbing the phone. At a speed he wasn’t even aware he had, he quickly sent the picture to himself, deleted the message, and deleted the picture off Lev’s phone.

He intended on lording this over Kuroo ruthlessly, but he wasn’t so cruel as to allow Lev to contribute.

“Aw, Yaku-san,” Lev whined as Yaku tossed him back his phone. He didn’t get to finish his complaint because then Coach Nekomata was blowing the whistle, and everyone was gathering around for practice. Yaku couldn’t help the way his eyes lingered on where Kuroo was watching Kenma fondly.

This was looking to be one of the best days of Yaku’s life.

-

Lev pouted as he looked forlornly at his phone. It wasn’t fair! Not only had he not been able to get a single picture of Kenma during morning practice, but Yaku had deleted the ones of him  _ and _ Kuroo.

And the one of Kuroo had been so funny too! Who would have guessed that his captain was in love?

If only he knew  _ who _ Kuroo was in love with.

Lev didn’t like being left out, but when he’d asked Yaku if he knew anything, he’d just gotten kicked in the side. And if he tried asking Kuroo directly without any evidence, Kuroo would just make a dumb joke out of it.

Determined, Lev decided he was going to get a picture of Kuroo, show it to his captain, and demand to know who he was in love with.

It shouldn’t be a difficult plan because Kuroo wasn’t camera shy like  _ other _ members of the team, and Lev was confident he’d be able to figure everything out by lunch time. Putting his volleyball shoes in his bag, he looked up as Kuroo entered the clubroom. It was weird to see him without Kenma, but the setter was apparently avoiding Lev since he’d found out about his initial plan with the app.

“Kuroo-san, smile,” Lev called out, and Kuroo barely managed to look up before Lev snapped a picture. Lev let out a little laugh as Kuroo shot him a bemused look and looked down at his phone in anticipation.

What?!?

“Amused seems vague,” Kuroo said from over his shoulder. “Are you sure this app works on people who have a range of emotions beyond overconfidence and murder.”

“Maybe it only works on people who don’t have half their face covered by their hair.”

Ignoring the bickering of his upperclassmen, Lev furrowed his brow at his phone. He was sure of what he’d seen earlier, so why wasn’t it showing up now? He squinted at the photo and tried to recall how Kuroo had looked in the other picture.

He could admit that he hadn’t been paying too much attention to Kuroo’s actual face or the background of the picture at the time – too distracted by the words ‘In Love’ to really care – but maybe there was some difference. Maybe it was because Kuroo hadn’t been expecting the picture?

Besides, not everyone could be like Lev and have an abundance of confidence overflowing from them constantly.

“Wipe that look off of your face,” Yaku said from his side, causing Lev to jump a little. “And don’t get involved. Kuroo and Kenma don’t need you meddling in their lives.”

Lev furrowed his brow. What did Kenma have to do with anything?

No matter, Lev was sure he wasn’t meddling in anything. Kuroo hadn’t complained once about the picture or the app, so he surely didn’t mind it. He just needed to get another picture of him, this time when he wasn’t expecting it.

He figured that would be easy enough to do, he would just need to follow Kuroo to his class, take some quick pictures on the way, and rush to his own class before the bell rang.

Keeping an eye on Kuroo as he finished packing up, Lev waited a couple moments after his captain left before following right after him. He then scowled as he noticed Kenma by his side. It would be even trickier to evade both of them, but Lev reminded himself that he definitely had the ability to do it.

He crept along stealthily as they made their way away from the gym and through the corridors, always making sure he was out of sight. As they slowed to a pause before a set of stairs, Lev watched from around a corner as Kenma pulled Kuroo down by his tie, whispered something in his ear, and then went up the stairs towards his classroom.

Lev continued watching as Kuroo stayed frozen in place all while his face quickly heated up.

Weird.

But it was also a great opportunity to take a picture! He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and pulled the app open, but by the time he was finished Kuroo was already moving around another corner.

Lev rushed after him, and then instead nearly collided with him as he turned the corner.

“Kuroo-san!”

“Lev,” Kuroo greeted with his trademark smirk. “I didn’t think any first-year classes were in this direction.”

Lev just gaped, trying to come up with an excuse but coming short. But he hadn’t prepared anything because he hadn’t expected getting caught! He thought he’d been doing so well too.

“Kenma  _ was _ right about you following us then,” Kuroo continued, and Lev pouted.  _ That _ must’ve been the reason for Kuroo’s weird behavior earlier. He then realized this phone was still in his hand, and before Kuroo could move away he took his picture.

He stayed long enough to see Kuroo blink in surprise before making a mad dash for his classroom on the third floor. Lev collapsed into his desk as the bell rang and sighed happily. He got the picture and got to class on time!

It wasn’t until his class was dismissed for lunch that Lev was able to check his phone and see that instead of ‘In Love’, ‘Proud’ was written across Kuroo’s forehead.

What? Had he been proud of Lev for stalking him?

Regardless of Kuroo’s strange captaining philosophy, Lev had hoped he’d be able to get another try during lunch – but everyone else was bothering him about the app now!

“You never let me have a try at it,” Inouka complained as he pulled at Lev’s arm. “If you’re gonna go for my position, the least you can do is humor me with the app.”

“Can it do more than one person at once?” Kai asked, and Lev paused in consideration.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted, but he couldn’t help but think it would be helpful. Maybe if he got a picture of Kuroo with the person he liked, the app would tell him who it was. But then he’d have to take a picture of Kuroo with everyone in the whole school to check.

“Here, let me see,” Yamamoto said before he snatched Lev’s phone from his hand. Why was everyone taking his phone from him! Couldn’t they just download the app themselves?

Yamamoto focused the phone towards the captain and vice-captain, and Lev perked up. This was what he’d wanted to try out anyway.

“Damn, it only got one of them,” Yamamoto sighed, and Lev looked over the words ‘Stressed’ on Kai’s forehead.

“Stressed?” Shibayama read from Yamamoto’s other side. “Vice-captain, you’re stressed? Is it our fault?”

Kai gave a firm ‘No’ the same time Yaku deadpanned ‘Yes’.

“It’s not anyone’s fault,” Kai reiterated with a sigh. “I’ve just been stressed in general with both graduation and Spring Nationals around the corner.”

Lev felt the energy around the table deflate, and even Yamamoto seemed put out as he handed Lev his phone back.

With everyone’s attention finally off Lev, he happily turned to Kuroo and took a picture of his face.

“Really, Lev?”

He ignored Yaku’s scolding and then resisted the urge to scream. This time Kuroo had the words ‘Frustrated’ over his forehead. How many emotions did the captain go through in a day? Maybe this morning was just a fluke.

“Lev has the emotional intelligence of a volleyball,” Kenma spoke up. Lev tilted his head at him in confusion. “And his head is round enough to be one. Maybe we can use that and confuse our opponents into thinking he’s just one that grew legs and arms.”

Kuroo let out a startled laugh, and the whole table seemed to relax at the sound. Lev’s eyes widened as he recognized the look on Kuroo’s face as he settled down, and without a second thought he took another picture.

“Okay, that’s enough Lev,” Kuroo said pointedly. “Put your phone away and eat your lunch.”

And Lev didn’t even protest at the way Kuroo spoke to him like a child. Because in the picture below him was Kuroo looking down at Kenma with the words ‘In Love’ across his forehead just like that morning.

This is what Yaku had meant by not meddling!

He had to tell Kenma.

-

“Lev, the deal was that we could talk as long as you kept your phone away.”

Kenma thought it had been a safe enough deal, but the way Lev seemed to be vibrating with energy made him think that maybe he should’ve included more conditions.

“But Kenma-san, I promise I’m not trying to take your picture,” Lev insisted with a dumb smile on his face. “I actually want to show you someone else’s picture.”

Lev said it like it was something that should entice Kenma, and Kenma rolled his eyes in response.

He was well aware of the ridiculous app that Lev had downloaded, and how he had gotten it in an attempt to understand Kenma better. And while Kuroo had laughed while explaining this to him, Kenma was begrudgingly touched by the lengths Lev was willing to go through to try and get to know Kenma a little better.

That didn’t mean he was going to let him take a picture of him.

And that definitely didn’t mean he had any inkling of interest in the dumb, gimmicky app.

He couldn’t believe he was wasting his little time before practice like this.

“I doubt there’s anyone who’s picture you’ve got that I want to see.”

“What about Kuroo-san,” Lev said pointedly, and Kenma paused for half a second, before continuing to pull his shirt over his head.

Lev was the densest person Kenma had met in his life, and Kenma surrounded himself by dumb teenage volleyball players. There was no way he’d caught on to Kenma’s crush on Kuroo.

“I don’t need an app to tell me what Kuro is feeling,” is what Kenma decided to respond with. “If I can’t tell by just looking at him, I can just ask.”

Not that an instance like that had happened in years. Kenma had known Kuroo forever, and he could tell what his best friend was feeling with as little as a glance. It was how he’d known what to say at lunch when he was feeling down, how he’d known Kuroo had needed to tell him something as soon as morning practice was over, and how he knew he could probably talk Kuroo into buying him an apple pie today on their way home from school.

He didn’t need some little app to tell him anything he didn’t already know about his best friend.

“Then why don’t you ask him about this?”

Kenma blinked rapidly as Lev shoved his phone as his face, and he raised his hand to smack it until what was on it finally registered.

There was Kuroo, looking down at what looked to be the top of Kenma’s head, with the words ‘In Love’ placed boldly across his forehead.

What. The. Fuck.

“What is this?” Kenma quietly demanded as he kept his eyes trained on the picture.

“It’s from lunchtime! I took it while he was distracted, and the app said—”

“Oh,” Kenma said as he finally allowed his body to relax. “It’s just from your stupid app.”

“My app is not stupid!” Lev cried indignantly, but Kenma ignored him. To think he’d thought Lev was playing some kind of cruel trick on him. The big dummy didn’t have it in him. “And why aren’t you freaking out about this more?”

“Because it’s not real,” Kenma replied as he settled into the floor of the clubroom and pulled out his handheld. At Lev’s silence, he glanced up and nearly recoiled at the look of disbelief on Lev’s face. “What? You can’t tell me you actually think it’s accurate.”

“Of course I do! Because it is!” Lev replied as he waved his phone around. “It was right when it said that Kai was stressed.”

“Lucky.”

“How about when it said that Yaku was feeling murderous?”

“…Do you have evidence of that?”

“No, Yaku deleted it—”

“Sounds fake.”

“Well it said Kuroo-san was in love this morning too!”

“That actually supports my side more,” Kenma sighed. Having to destroy Lev’s belief in the app hadn’t been Kenma’s intention, but if it was the only way to get him to drop the topic, then so be it. “That just means the app is simply recycling moods, and you’ve messed with it enough that it needed a repeat.”

“Yeah, well, then how do you explain this!”

Lev shoved his phone at Kenma again, but Kenma was expecting it this time.

What he wasn’t expecting was the wall of Lev selfies with the words ‘Over-Confident’ stamped on every one.

He couldn’t have held back his snort even if he’d tried.

“See,” Lev said, dragging the word out and waving his phone around. “It is an accurate app.”

“Over-confident is the only emotion you’re capable of,” Kenma snarked, though he had to admit that the results were…a bit compelling. “It doesn’t take an app to know that.”

“Then why don’t we test it on you!”

“Absolutely not.”

Kenma had been against the idea from the beginning, but now that he knew ‘In Love’ was an option there was no way in hell he was going to let Lev’s camera anywhere near his face. Even if he still had his doubts about the accuracy of the app, the last thing he needed was for its randomization to settle on something as humiliating as in love. Lev would surely take it too far, show the entire team, and leave Kenma subject to relentless teasing from everyone.

He shuddered at the thought and took Lev’s phone away before he could even think about it.

“Ah Kenma-san, not you too!” Lev whined. “It would be really quick, and I’ll delete it right after!”

“Then what would even be the point.”

“You could decide on an emotion, write it down so you can’t cheat, and I’ll take the picture. If it’s right, then we know the app is accurate, and if it’s wrong then you’re proven right. Either way, I’ll delete the picture right after,” Lev paused, and then let a mischievous smile spread across his face. “And if you’re so confident, there really is no harm in trying.”

Kenma almost narrowed his eyes at Lev. As if such taunting would work on him. Who did he think he was, Kuroo?

But it did seem like a good idea. It would probably shut Lev up once and for all since it was his idea anyway. And, on the off chance the app was able to read Kenma of all people's expression – which it wouldn’t be – then Kenma could admit that it would be evidence enough to convince him of its legitimacy.

But if it was accurate, that would mean that the app was right about Kuroo. And if Lev’s behavior so far suggested anything, it would mean he was under the impression that Kenma was the one Kuroo was in love with. But he was sure he would’ve noticed if Kuroo was in love with him…so the only other option was that Kuroo was in love with someone else.

Kenma’s heart clenched at the thought. But surely, he would’ve noticed something like that too?

Besides he wasn’t sure which was worse: finding out Kuroo was in love with someone else, or finding out Kuroo was in love with him through  _ Lev _ and his stupid fucking app.

...Kenma knew which one was worse.

“It’s still a no,” Kenma replied, and he ignored the rest of Lev’s whines and badgering. If, and it was a very large if, Kuroo was in love with someone, Kenma was going to figure it out for himself.

He’d perhaps gotten a little lazy in his observation of Kuroo, only checking for his mood when something seemed off or pressing. But love was a little more subtle than that.

But it was still Kuroo. Kenma would have it figured out by the end of the day.

-

Today had been a weird day.

Kuroo wasn’t sure if it was because of Lev’s stupid app, the truly terrifyingly knowing looks Yaku had been sending him all afternoon, or the fact that practice had contained an almost troublingly amount of staring from Kenma, but the whole day felt off.

And while he had thought that Lev’s app had been fun at the beginning, his persistence in getting a picture of him instead of Kenma had thrown Kuroo for such a loop he hadn’t known what to do but roll with it. Even stranger was Lev’s abrupt stop, and sudden shift back to Kenma.

Hopefully he wasn’t bothering him about pictures again.

He didn’t think he could handle redirecting Lev’s attention from Kenma to Yaku again like he had that morning. While he didn’t regret protecting Kenma’s privacy, he wasn’t sure he’d survive if Yaku had anything to say about it.

“Kuroo, come over here.”

Speak of the devil.

“Did you miss my presence already Yakkun,” Kuroo cooed as he made his way over to the libero. A street light flickered on above them, and Kuroo noted how late it was already. He hoped Kenma would be ready to go soon.

“Don’t call me that,” Yaku deadpanned as he pulled his phone from pocket. “Especially not with the picture I have of you from Lev’s stupid app.”

“Aw, you saved a picture of me,” Kuroo teased with a grin, trying to steal a glimpse of his screen. However, once Yaku showed him the picture on his phone, all expression and color drained from his face.

“Yeah, that’s the look I was hoping for.”

Kuroo knew he wasn’t known for his subtlety. He was plenty crafty and had about a million schemes in his pockets at a given moment, but he was always one to wear his heart on his sleeve. He wasn’t ashamed of his feelings, and even if it caused him to bump heads with people from time to time, he was proud at the ease of which he shared his emotions.

God, did he hate that about himself right now.

Who the fuck allowed him to look so absolutely  _ gone _ for Kenma? Is that how he always looked? Why hasn’t anyone said anything? Christ, you didn’t even need the bold words that declared he was ‘In Love’ to see how head over ass he was about his best friend.

“Ha,” he laughed hollowly, and he didn’t need Yaku’s pitying look to tell him how far the sound fell flat. “Where…uh, where did you get this?”

“I took it,” Yaku replied flatly. “After you sicked Lev on me.”

Karma was so cruel.

“I mostly just wanted it to tease you with,” Yaku continued with a deep sigh. “Which is why I deleted it from Lev’s phone. But I have a feeling he’s been meddling, even though I specifically told him not to.”

Kuroo’s eyes widened.

This explained the whole day.

It explained why Yaku had looked so goddamn smug and why Lev had been so insistent about getting more pictures of him.

Kuroo swore his heart stopped.

And what if it explained why Kenma had been staring at him all throughout practice?

“Kuroo, breathe,” Yaku said in a tone gentler than he’d even spoken to Kuroo with. Jesus did he really look that bad? “I’m sure you’re making this out to be worse than it actually is.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kuroo snarked, hand coming up to pull at his hair. “My best friend might have just found out I’m crazy about him because of some stupid app, I have absolutely no reason to be freaking out, you’re completely right!”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Yaku said with narrowed eyes, and Kuroo felt himself deflate. “Yes, this isn’t ideal, but I doubt Kenma knows much. It’s just Lev.”

“Lev is never ‘just Lev’,” Kuroo muttered, though he did feel his heartbeat settle. “If he was, you wouldn’t be the only one able to deal with him.”

“What do you mean, deal with me?”

Kuroo jumped at the voice and looked up to see Lev making his way to them with none other than Kenma trailing just a few steps behind.

And yep, there went Kuroo’s heart rate.

“It means you’re a handful and should listen to me more,” Yaku said before he started pulling on Lev’s arm. Kuroo’s eyes widened and he tried giving Yaku a pleading look to not leave just then. He still wasn’t mentally prepared to talk with Kenma.

Yaku met his gaze head on.

“Lev, say goodbye and go home. It’s too late for us to be loitering on the street.”

The rat bastard.

“Bye Kuroo-san, bye Yaku-san,” Lev said as he started walking away. He paused and then gave Kenma an overexaggerated wink. “Bye Kenma-san~!”

What the fuck did that mean?

“I’m heading out too,” Yaku said with a smirk. “I’ll see you both tomorrow morning.”

And then Kuroo was left alone with the love of his life. Fantastic.

“Are you ready to go?” Kenma asked, and Kuroo repressed a long-suffering sigh.

“Yep,” Kuroo replied, popping the p. He immediately regretted it with the look Kenma gave him.

From there though, the walk home was…normal. Kenma had apparently given up on his intense observation of Kuroo, and was now playing with his handheld. Kuroo filled the silence with conversation as he usually did, and even if he sounded more nervous than usual, Kenma wasn’t calling him out on it. All in all, it seemed like Kuroo would make it home without incident.

So of course, he would mess it up once they got on the train.

“So, I couldn’t help but notice something during practice today,” he said once a cutscene appeared in Kenma's game. Kenma glanced at him but remained unmoved otherwise. “Namely the fact that you couldn’t seem to keep your eyes off me.”

Kuroo wished it was possible for him to cringe himself out of existence. He’d meant to subtly bring up Kenma’s odd behavior, not make it look like he was coming on to him.

To make matters worse, Kenma wasn’t responding, but he had paused whatever game he was in the middle of.

Kuroo floundered.

“Not that I can completely blame you,” Kuroo continued, hating himself for every word that continued to come out of his mouth. “But I was just wondering if you liked what you saw or needed something from me or –”

“Maybe.”

Kuroo’s entire brain shut down.

Maybe. Maybe?  _ Maybe?  _

“So…when you say maybe –”

“You look at me a lot,” Kenma said, interrupting Kuroo from embarrassing himself further like the godsend he was. Then Kenma’s words actually registered, and Kuroo felt his entire face heat up.

“I wouldn’t say it’s  _ a lot. _ ”

“You wouldn’t have noticed how much I was looking at you if you weren’t looking at me just as much,” Kenma reasoned, speaking as if he was talking about the weather and not Kuroo’s all-encompassing crush on him. Kuroo wished he hadn’t brought this up on a train where he had no escape routes. Finally looking up at him, Kenma blinked at Kuroo in surprise.

Kuroo had no idea what was surprising about him. He was being called out for staring at his crush, of course his face was going to be about as red as their jerseys. No, what was surprising was the small blush that was spreading across Kenma’s cheeks.

Kuroo’s soul was about to vacate his body.

“I never said it was a bad thing,” Kenma mumbled before ducking his head down again. Kuroo was going to die, and it was going to be Kenma’s fault, and he was probably going to thank him. “…I mean I just admitted to watching you too.”

“Yeah can we go back to that,” Kuroo replied with a shaky voice. He took a deep breath and attempted to steady himself. If this conversation was going to happen, he was not going to be a coward about it. “I mean I’m always looking at you a lot, but today wasn’t usual for you.”

Kenma tilted his head back up at Kuroo, before releasing a steady breath himself. It caused his face to heat up even more, and Kuroo refused to be distracted by it.

“Lev showed me a picture of you from lunch today,” Kenma said slowly, and Kuroo could already feel himself tense up. ‘It’s just Lev’ his ass. “It was from his stupid app, and he was convinced it was true, but I had some doubts.”

Kenma furrowed his brows, but Kuroo felt his entire body relax. Kenma didn’t believe in the app. It didn’t matter what Lev had shown him because he thought it was all fake anyway.

“I don’t need an app to tell me how you feel – you’re my best friend, I can see for myself,” Kenma continued, and Kuroo felt his heart melt. Kenma could be so soft sometimes, and he didn’t need an app to see that either. “So that’s what I decided to do. See for myself.”

Kenma looked expectantly at Kuroo, and it took Kuroo about five seconds for it all to click.

Fuck.

Kenma had spent the whole practice watching Kuroo with the intent of seeing if Kuroo was in love with him. Kuroo, who created an entire speech about how essential Kenma was to the team. Kuroo, who always first looked to Kenma after a success block or hit. Kuroo, who, according to the picture Yaku showed him, looked at Kenma with a face so lovesick that even Lev had picked up on.

_ Fuck. _

“Yeah,” Kenma said, clearly taking in Kuroo’s aghast expression. “But to be fair, at first I was just trying to see if you were in love with someone else.”

That snapped Kuroo out of it real quick.

“How could I be in love with someone else?” he asked with all the confusion the question warranted. Kenma’s entire face went red at his outburst, and Kuroo’s own eyes went wide. 

That was as good as a confession.

Kenma opened his mouth but was interrupted by the train’s conductor announcing their stop. Kuroo stood up first and walked to the doors, and after a few moments Kenma joined him.

All the ease that had been there during their walk earlier was gone as they made their way through the station and began the final leg home.

Kuroo wished he knew what to say, but where did he even begin? Yes, I’m in love with you, please feel the same? How would you feel about staying by my side for the rest of our lives? Hey, you were blushing a lot back there – was that a happy blush or a I hate you blush? Do I hate you blushes even exist?

So caught up in his thoughts, he nearly jumped as he felt something brush his hand. He looked down at said hand, and watched in complete awe as Kenma’s own hand came to hold his and intertwine their fingers. Dragging his eyes up to Kenma’s face, Kuroo watched as he blushed and averted his eyes while biting at his lip.

Seriously, did he do this shit on purpose?

“I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that,” Kenma said slowly before finally looking up at Kuroo with a small smirk. Be still his goddamn heart. “Even though you were the one to bring it up in the first place. But…I really like you too. I have for a while. Even if you haven’t actually properly confessed or anything.”

“All that wasn’t enough for you,” Kuroo exclaimed, but he couldn’t stop the smile rising on his lips or the happiness in his chest. Kenma liked him back. Kenma liked him back!

“I mean, it does feel like I’ve been the one pulling all the weight here,” Kenma teased as they approached his house, and then his eyes immediately went wide with regret.

Good.

“Kozume Kenma,” Kuroo declared, getting down on one knee and absolutely living for glare Kenma was sending him. “I am out of my mind with how in love with you I am. Please be my boyfriend.”

“Kuro, get up.”

“Not until I get a response.”

“The neighbors could see you!”

“There is literally no one else out here, all you’ve got to do is –”

“Oh my god, you know the answer is yes, why are you like –”

Kuroo didn’t need to hear another word before he was standing up, cupping Kenma’s face, and kissing him for all he was worth. Kenma froze for a split second, but before Kuroo could second guess himself he was kissing him back just as intensely.

“Want to come over?” Kenma breathed against his lips as they broke apart, and Kuroo could live the rest of his life in this moment and be completely satisfied.

“As if I would say anything other than yes, I literally want to be with you all of the time.”

Kenma blushed, and pushed Kuroo away, but he couldn’t stop laughing anyway. It was so much better to tease Kenma like this when he was his boyfriend. God, he was never going to get tired of saying that.

“You’re so embarrassing,” Kenma complained as he opened the door to his house.

“It’s only because I love you,” Kuroo sang quietly. He watched as Kenma’s blush spread down his neck and felt his smile widen even more.

He was never going to get tired of saying that either.

-

“Kenma, say cheese.”

“Ugh, what do you need a picture for.”

“I asked Lev for the app name and downloaded it myself.”

“Kuro, delete the picture now, and your death will be merciful.”

“But now we have matching ones that say ‘In –  _ Ow,  _ Jesus Christ, Kenma, that hurt!”

**Author's Note:**

> this was so much fun to write, i hope you all liked it too!
> 
> if you wanna scream w me abt kuroken or hq in general, you can come by my [twitter!](https://twitter.com/bestkindoftrash)


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